Dealing with Spills

Deliberate acts of vandalism such as damaging plant and equipment or fuel storage tanks can be costly in both financial and environmental terms. Your business is responsible for all fuel, oil and chemicals that are present on your site. You can be prosecuted for a pollution incident that originated on your site even if it was caused by vandalism, particularly if the incident was foreseeable or avoidable.

Try to prevent spills from entering drains or watercourses. For example, use earth to block the flow of spills, or sand or commercial spill kit products to soak them up.

Keep a spill kit and absorbent materials near to your oil store so that you can access them easily when they are needed.
Train all staff in what to do if you have a spill and how to use any spill equipment. (We can provide details of training and environmental audits)

You must never hose a spill down or use detergents to disperse it as you could cause a much worse pollution incident.
Dealing with oil spills.

You should introduce measures to deal with any oil leaks or spills that occur on your site.

Have a pollution incident response procedure for dealing with spills. Make sure that all staff are familiar with this procedure and how to implement it. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON PPG21 POLLUTION PREVENTION GUIDELINES VISIT THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY WEBSITE AT www.environment-agency.gov.uk

Try to prevent spills from entering drains or watercourses. For example, use earth to block the flow of spills, or sand or commercial spill kit products to soak them up.